A Butterfly's Bonding
by Philanthropics
Summary: One-off. Ruby spends some time at the zoo alone with Yoshiko. She wasn't expecting this much comfort from a fallen angel.


Insects made Ruby uneasy under most circumstances, but there were a few exceptions to this rule. The cute bugs, as she called them, were fine. Butterflies, ladybugs, and fireflies never scared or bothered her. Thus, she never killed one, but rather cried out for Dia to do the service.

Despite her fear, she agreed to visit the bug exhibit with Yoshiko. Not so much agreed, but was instead dragged by the other girl. But, she didn't put up as much as a fight as she could have. Yoshiko wanted to see the creepy wonders that resided in that section of the zoo, and Ruby felt wrong to deny her of something she looked so forward to.

Visiting the aquarium was a fun activity the girls of Aqours did often, but it wasn't every day they went to the zoo. They started the visit as a unit of all nine girls. Towards the middle of the trip, Kanan and Mari separated from the group. After that, You, Chika, and Riko disappeared. It was down to the first years and Dia. And for a reason unbeknownst to Ruby, Hanamaru pulled Dia away from the group to look at the birds, which left her alone with Yoshiko. However, Ruby was thankful for some time alone with the girl.

Ruby had been trying to get on Yoshiko's good graces, but spending time with her by looking at spiders wasn't exactly the bonding experience she had in mind. Then again, Yoshiko had a habit of making Ruby step out of her comfort zone, and an excursion to see creepy crawlies in a zoo full of soft, huggable animals was a very Yoshiko-esque activity.

Ruby thought she would be fine seeing dead insects. They were dead, after all, and couldn't harm her. But when she stood in front of a glass case, with variations of black widow spiders and a card of information to partner them, she realized she wasn't suited for this exhibit.

Her body felt hot, cold, heavy, and light all at the same time. It was the feeling of fear and anxiety that she hadn't felt in a long time. Ever since she became an idol, she picked up a sprinkle of confidence from everyone and felt stronger now from Aqours than she ever did by herself.

Yet here she was, immobilized by a couple of bug corpses. She was embarrassed. No one else in the group would be this scared of something so trivial. She imagined the spiders on her and in her food and on her hair and in her shoes. She felt the tiny little legs crawling. And their teeth, so small that she wouldn't even feel them piercing her and injecting venom-

"Hey, are you okay? If you're not feeling it, we can leave," Yoshiko firmly, but gently, grabbed Ruby's wrist. Her dark angel persona was missing, and Ruby saw the genuine care of Yoshiko.

"No, it's… fine. I'm fine!" Ruby came back to reality. Although embarrassed, she looked Yoshiko in the eyes. She spoke as though she was convincing herself more than talking to her friend.

"Are you positive? It's not too late to leave."

Ruby slipped her hand upwards to gain hold of Yoshiko's. "No, I'm fine, honest! But I'd feel more comfortable like this."

Yoshiko inhaled and gulped. She wasn't sure if a blush was forming, or if it was hot in the building. She wasn't used to being the comforting friend, but she wanted to be that for Ruby. It was her fault for being in here, after all.

"Well, shall we move forward, my little demon?" Yoshiko returned to her cool composure.

"Yep!" Ruby squeaked, and the two moved on.

Ruby gained strength from the warmth of Yoshiko's hand. She was embarrassed from how she tensed up earlier, but all was fine now. She saw the excitement in Yoshiko's eyes as the searched each case of bugs. It was amazing how anyone could have such a fondness of these monstrosities, and Ruby admired that. She adored the energy Yoshiko had, and it paralleled to her own love of idols. It was a connection that she was looking to form.

Yoshiko was a demon; a winged angel of the night. Dia told Ruby that she was the opposite: Ruby was a little angel. A shiny pearl in comparison to a dark feather. Ruby kept that in her mind ever since Dia told her that. Something about it felt wrong. Dia meant no ill will, it was just a metaphor to exaggerate their differences. But it did not sit well with the petite girl, and she vowed to herself that she would see Yoshiko for everything that she actually was.

All was well until they came across a case of scorpions. Once more, Ruby tensed up. Yoshiko felt the shift and turned to soothe her. But before she could get a word out, Ruby spoke up.

"Turn back around," she mumbled under her breath.

"What?"

"Turn around and face the… thing," Yoshiko, confused did as she was told. Ruby crawled onto Yoshiko's back. She held her in a hug, with arms tight, but not too tight, on Yoshiko's stomach. Her forehead and nose bumped into Yoshiko's back, and she nuzzled it for comfort. Yoshiko let out a small giggle.

"Don't worry, my little one. You've crossed over to my dark side, no? Such creatures will cause you no harm!" Yoshiko spoke up, and interlaced her fingers with Ruby's and gave a gentle squeeze. Her voice was hushed in an attempt to be calming. "I assure you, you're safe with me."

Ruby flashed a shy smile that no one could see. "Thank you, Yohane."

Yoshiko loosened the grip Ruby's arms had on her and turned around to see the girl. She looked her in the eyes and then gave her a hug. Her chin rested on Ruby's head.

"So, can we move forward once more?"

"Yes!" Ruby chirped, and once again reached her hand for Yoshiko's. This time it wasn't for comfort from her fear of the bugs necessarily, but instead, because she felt a faint warmness in her chest that grew from the closeness with Yoshiko.

The two finished walking around the building. Ruby kept her composure for the rest of the time and felt slightly proud of herself for this. The two kept a steady conversation, and although Ruby was worried going in, she felt tougher than before. It was time with Yoshiko she normally didn't get to spend.

After getting to the exit, however, they saw rain slide down the window panes. Neither noticed when the rain started, and Ruby quickly checked her phone and sat on a bench opposite the door. Yoshiko yawned and joined her. The group chat was buzzing.

"Are you guys dry? Please stay under shelter so you don't get wet. You could catch a cold!" was a text from Riko.

"Aye aye, cap'n!" You responded first, despite her being in the same place as the original texter.

"We're stuck in the cafeteria until the rain lets up. See you guys soon?" Chika sent.

Hanamaru sent a picture of Dia soaked wet with a disgruntled face.

"We got caught in it, but we're fine now, zura!" was captioned on the photo.

Kanan sent a selfie of her and Mari, both wet but smiling.

"Yohane and I are fine! Poor sis!" Ruby texted back. Yoshiko didn't even pay attention to her phone.

"Ruby?" she asked, and the girl put down her device.

"Hm?"

"What bug am I?" Yoshiko asked, and Ruby saw something serious in her face.

"What?"

"What bug do you think I am? Like if I was reincarnated, or chose a familiar. What screams 'Yohane' to you?" She continued to glare at Ruby.

Ruby thought for a moment. She fidgeted the bottom of her shirt, something about being looked at so intensely by the girl made her uncomfortable. But, she continued to think.

"A moth," she said, with a clear voice. She maintained eye contact when speaking.

"A moth?!" Yoshiko asked, taken aback. "You don't think I'm a spider? Or a scorpion?"

"Not at all! I'm sure you're a moth," Ruby said with a nod. "I'm not scared of moths. They're pretty like butterflies, but they come out at night."

"Hm," Yoshiko muttered. "A creature that dances in candlelight with graceful wings. Maybe I am a moth." She smiled and Ruby returned the gesture.

"Do me!"

Yoshiko didn't even take the time to think. "Why of course, you're a butterfly."

Ruby was okay with that. A gentle insect; a butterfly wasn't scary even to children.

"I think that would be a good costume," Yoshiko added and thought aloud with a softness to her voice. "If we did a duet, a black moth and white butterfly would be super cool!"

"You'd want to do a duet with me?" Ruby asked, shocked. She was surprised that anyone would want to sing with her specifically.

"Huh? Why wouldn't I?" Yoshiko looked at her confused.

Ruby spoke quieter, embarrassed by her own thoughts. "Well, your voice is strong and deeper than mine. My voice sounds weak and really young."

"Nonsense! Your innocent charm is something I admire. Demons are never innocent, it's in my contract."

The smaller girl giggled. "I suppose you're right, even Muse had lots of duets. If they can do it, surely we can do it!" Her confidence poked out once more.

"Yes! A dark angel with her smallest demon by her side!"

Ruby liked being coined Yoshiko's little demon. It was a sense of companionship unlike any that she had before.

"I'll talk to You about costume design," Ruby said and made a note of it on her phone. As she was typing, it buzzed once more.

"Yo-shi-ko~! Ru-by~! Where are you?" Mari texted. The sudden buzz of her phone startled Ruby.

She looked up through the window and noticed the rain had stopped. She hadn't even noticed and wondered when it stopped. The two girls stood back up, and Yoshiko let out a big stretch.

"We should be meeting them soon, yeah?" Yoshiko yawned out.

"Yep! They're meeting us by the food court!"

"Good, looking at all these bugs made me hungry."

"Yohane, you're gross!" And both girls let out a laugh.


End file.
